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Fall foliage lights up the lakeshore at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Along with changing leaves, late season sunflowers provide a colorful contrast to red-wing blackbirds that swoop and dart through grasses. The refuge protects a wide stretch of the Rio Grande river where sandhill cranes, geese and other waterfowl spend the winter each year. Photo by Robert Dunn. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 10/7/16.

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Every March, thousands of Sandhill cranes stop in Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve on their way to their northern breeding grounds. The fields and wetlands of Colorado’s San Luis Valley provide excellent habitat for these majestic birds. With the dunes and mountains nearby, they dance and call to each other. It’s one of nature’s great spectacles. Sunrise. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 3/11/16.

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Thousands of sandhill cranes are arriving at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico this month to winter in this safe and stunning area. These gorgeous birds can stand four feet tall and have a wingspan greater than six feet. Fascinating to watch, their social behavior includes at least 10 different types of calls, various threatening postures and elaborate dances for everything from joy to courtship. Yesterday marked the start of the world-renowned Festival of the Cranes, an annual event hosted by the refuge. Photo by Michael Tafoya. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 11/18/15.

Sage Grouse. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 9/10/15.

How many bald eagles can you fit in a single tree? Apparently, at least 55! Chuck Hilliard took this pic back in 2012 along the Nooksack River near Deming, Washington. The eagles gather here for the early winter to feed on spawning chum salmon. Chuck’s explanation of why there were so many eagles the tree: The eagle parents appeared to be supervising their young as they fed on the salmon. “If an adult from outside this area flew in and harassed the young, the parental adults would fly down and run it off. It was pretty cool watching and listening,” he said. Photo courtesy of Chuck Hilliard. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 11/15/15.

Sunrise takeoff at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Kim Hang Dessoliers. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 11/18/15.

In the battle between raccoon and sandhill crane, it appears we have a winner.

A raccoon attempts to snag an easy meal at one of the feeders set up to supply the Mississippi sandhills with extra calories during the nesting season at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. The two adult cranes decide that this will not happen on their watch and begin to display defensive behavior — the raccoon rethinks his strategy and decides to find lunch elsewhere! A juvenile crane (the drab colored individual) watches and learns in the background.

(Photo USFWS Camera Trap). Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 7/25/14.

Pelican Island National Wildlife Reserve. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 3/14/14.

Great Horned Owl, female. Photo by Dennis Demcheck, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) employee. He snapped this great photo of the owl nesting in a Live Oak tree. Here’s what he had to say about it. “She was ‘staring me down’ because she had eggs to protect. It was taken in southwest Louisiana in the Mermentau River Basin near the town of Thornwell.” Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 3/22.

Two Sandhill Cranes flying over a wetland in the Park. March 2014. Photo: Patrick Myers. Posted by the US Department of the Interior on Tumblr, 3/20/14.

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These river otters in Squaw Creek National Wildlife Reserve clearly don’t mind the cold! Posted by the US Department of the Interior, 2/10/14.

Snow is a great insulator. So is fur— something this red fox certainly must appreciate! This fox was photographed on the The Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuges, which were established to conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity, including brown bears, the Alaska Peninsula caribou herds, moose, sea otters and other marine mammals, salmon, shore birds and other migratory birds, and raptors, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons. Photo: Bob Dreeszen. Posted by the US Department of the Interior on Tumblr, 2/6/14.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed to remove the Oregon chub from the list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife under the Endangered Species Act. If finalized, the chub would be the first fish delisted due to recovery. The Oregon chub, a small minnow found only in the Willamette River Basin in floodplain habitats with little or no water flow, was listed as endangered in 1993 and reclassified as threatened in 2010. The primary factors that threatened Oregon chub were loss of habitat and predation by nonnative fishes. These threats have been lessened over the last 20 years through collaborative partnerships to restore and acquire habitat, promote natural water flows, and conduct education and outreach to local landowners and residents; efforts that were accompanied by the reintroduction of chub into historical habitat. Posted by the US Department of the Interior on 2/4/14.

A Grizzly Bear crossing the Snake River at sunrise in the Grand Teton National Park. Photo: Donald Higgs. Posted by the US Department of the Interior on Tumblr, 1/15/14.

This shot by Steven Gifford is amazing because bobcats – Lynx rufus – are elusive, nocturnal, mostly solitary – and rarely seen by people. They first appeared about 1.8 million years ago. Today, the beautiful cat – about twice as big as an average housecat – is still found in most of its historic range from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Like most cats, the bobcat is territorial. Gifford took this photo at Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge, Indiana. Posted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/8/14. ________________________________________

Snow brings a special quiet to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Photo credit: Cindy Souders. Posted by the US Department of the Interior, 12/30/13.

When temperatures Yellowstone National Park dropped below freezing last week, this bison woke up with a frost blanket. The bison’s heavy fur is perfectly adapted to winter conditions. Photo: Tim Townsend. Posted by the US Department of the Interior, 11/15/13.

Another stunning fall photo from America’s great outdoors. A Cottonwood tree and sandhill cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Photo: Robert Dunn. Posted by the US Department of the Interior, 11/3/13.